On the 27th January 2025, I had the honour of acting as a judge for the English Department Year 10 Jack Petchey ‘Speak out!’ contest. Mr Husbands stepped in to replace Mr Griffin who was unwell, and did a great job as compere. K10 was packed with eagerly listening Year 10s, enjoying a plethora of amazing, heartfelt speeches. The pressure was truly felt, as I (along with fellow Year 12 English Prefect Gomitha and English teacher Mrs Ellis) had to decide who would go through to the next stage - the Regional Final...

Everyone worked so hard to give an engaging as well as interesting performance, and although it must have been a nerve-wracking experience, the effort to simply be on stage did not go amiss. Being a judge has definitely been one of the hardest things I have done, especially when at BGS there are so many young, talented individuals.

It was truly a delightful opportunity, to say the least, but more importantly, I hope everyone had a fun, enjoyable and inspiring experience. Your fellow staff and peers were thoroughly impressed with the high standards that you all set, and we are all so incredibly proud of the young adults that you have become. But more importantly, I hope you are all proud of yourselves, whether that be in your progress and success, or the lessons you have learnt from taking part.

Blaise Stokes, Year 12

The finalists (L to R): Zafir Chaudhuri, Sophia Lloyd, Emily Chan, Lisa Cao, Tadana Muhaso, Devine Kapu, Kartikeya Srivastava, Faris Al-Mallak, Benjamin Bowring, George Cook